The country, also known as Timor-Leste, had a bloody 24-year resistance against Indonesian occupiers, gaining independence officially in 2002. In stark contrast to this turbulent past, East Timor peacefully transferred power to a younger generation of leaders in the 2017 presidential elections. However, the nation has failed to form a secure, strong government since the 2018 parliamentary elections. The membership of the governing coalition changed again in 2020. Half of the country, with a population of only 1.3 million people, still lives in extreme poverty. High levels of youth unemployment fuel gang violence. With around 95% of its population being Roman Catholic, it is one of only two predominantly Christian nations in Southeast Asia. Churches face no persecution.

The Gambia is a tiny, peaceful Muslim country. Adama Barrow is the president of The Gambia. Anger and disappointment flare-up in the Gambia after the announcement of the unlikely coalition between the party of former leader Yahya Jammeh and that of his successor Adama Barrow, seeking a new mandate in December. Human rights defenders see this as a betrayal to the victims of Yayah Jammeh’s 20 years of rule.  Hamid Adiamoh, the editor-in-Chief of the NewDay newspaper in the Gambia said that the party led by Yayah Jammeh held the position that the Gambia would not move forward from that era of tyranny and has brought the country to its knees. Human rights groups in the Gambia have decried the possible return of former President Yahya Jammeh, who ruled the Gambia. Ninety percent of the Gambia population is Muslim, but there is some religious freedom and tolerance. Christians, mostly Protestant, make up 5% of the population.

The Gaza Strip is a narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle East, bordered by Egypt to the southwest and Israel to the north and east. Ismail Haniyeh is the president and Mohammad Shtayyeh is the Prime Minister in Gaza. The Gaza Strip residents are severely constrained by political rights and civil liberties. Blockade of the territory, periodic military incursions by Israel have imposed serious hardship on the civilian population. The Islamist political and militant group Hamas gained control of Gaza following its victory in the legislative elections and a subsequent conflict with Fatah, the ruling party in the West Bank. The subsequent schism between Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority has contributed to legal confusion and repeated postponement of elections, which have not been held in Gaza. Israel launched a month-long air campaign against sites in Gaza in early August 2021, in response to a rocket attack launched from the territory. Israeli authorities tightened restrictions on the flow of materials, including fuel and construction materials, into Gaza.

Mahmoud Abbas is the president and Mohammad Shtayyeh is the Prime Minister of the West Bank. Israel’s army said it was extending the closure on the West Bank and Gaza due to a manhunt for six Palestinian escapees who tunneled their way out of jail. To locate the escaped prisoners, it has been decided to extend the general closure. However, all of the other crossings will remain closed, and Palestinians could pass through them only under special or medical circumstances and on a humanitarian basis. The closure has been imposed right before the Jewish New Year. Israel considers the main Jewish holidays as prone to attacks by Palestinian militants and regularly closes off the occupied territories during these times. The increased violence has brought grief as there was the loss of Palestinian and Israeli lives that could, and should, have been avoided.